One thing can be said for the monument built to commemorate the centenary of the Blantyre Pit Disaster – it is a true tribute for the town. Not only had the monument been designed by local artist Neil Gordon, but it was built by a Blantyre firm using a process actually invented in the town!
The firm, H.M.S. Construction of Glasgow Road, developed their special fibre glass moulding system three years earlier and ever since business had been on the up and up. Robert Sim, a partner in the firm set up in 1971, told reporters in 1977: “It will be truly a Blantyre creation. As our donation to the memorial fund we shall be doing this job for cost price – no profit”.
Fibre glass memorials were under patent to H.M.S. and they sold headstones made of the material in England and the U.S.A. An order from Ireland came after someone read about the firm in a copy of the ‘Advertiser’ sent over by a relative. Mr Sim talked also about the system and how he saw it as the basis for a bright, big future for the firm. “The orders are really coming in and we can see this taking off. People are seeing the sense in using fibre glass instead stone for headstones. For a start it is hardy material – used in the nose of Concorde – and we undercut the stone prices. Our memorials can cost from half to a third of stone ones.
Mr Sim said that he did not see the Mining Memorial as a “one-off”. He said he could see this side of the trade developing after the publicity that was surrounding the memorial’s unveiling at High Blantyre Cross. He was also confident that his firm, although small, could handle this tall order. “Everything will be ready for the big day. I am sure the memorial we make will appeal to the Blantyre folk.”
Continued tomorrow….
Pictured by Jim Brown back in 2008 when the memorial was once lit.
